CC Intervention: Assess patient's fall risk and educate on fall precautions.
Patient Action: Complete an eye exam and discuss fall interventions with my care team.
CC Context:
- People who have fallen once are likely to fall again.
- There are many things that can contribute to falls, both physical and environmental and many things that can be implemented to prevent falls.
Talking to the Patient:
- Review the fall risk handout that will be sent to you and especially look over the link to the fall risk brochure. In it, there are many suggestions of things you can do to prevent another fall. Your doctor and care team can help assess what might be putting you at risk for falls such as eyesight, hearing, medications, muscle strength, and balance which can all contribute to the risk of falling.
- Don’t wait to get your eyesight checked. If you’ve had a fall, you need to get your eyesight checked as soon as you can. This could be an easy solution to your risk for falls. If you can’t clearly see tripping hazards, then your fall risk is very high.
- Other risks include weakness in your muscles which can make you unsteady.
- It is important to determine your risk factors and work on solutions. Many of these risk factors can only be determined by your doctor and many solutions may take a referral to another provider such as a physical therapist, eye doctor, occupational therapist, etc.
Questions to Ask the Patient:
- What was the situation in which you fell?
- Did you work on correcting the cause of the fall?
- Did you tell your doctor or care team about the fall?